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Friday, August 22, 2014

Top 10 Hitchcockian Films

When a movie is hailed as Hitchcockian, it should be taken
as a badge of honor. Such a label means the film deserves to live in the shadow
of Hitchcock’s revelatory tone and atmosphere. Below are my favorite Alfred
Hitchcock films that Alfred Hitchcock never actually made. They’re ranked in
terms of their “Hitchcockianness,” and they are just a few of many films to choose from. If I’ve
omitted a Hitchcockian film you love, do feel free to share it.

Honorable Mention

Basic Instinct(1992)
dir. by Paul Verhoeven

Just hear me out. If
ol’ Hitch ever ventured into the psycho-sexual side of suspense, I think he
would’ve made something very similar to Basic
Instinct. The melodramatic set pieces, the brazen music, the Dutch-angled
cinematography – it all fits snuggly into the Hitchcock canon.

10. The Spanish
Prisoner(1997)
dir. by David Mamet

The central conflict in many of David Mamet’s films is clearly influenced by Hitchcock. The
Spanish Prisoner must be the best example. It’s a film about an innocent man
trying to clear his name of an elaborate con. There’s a
loyal woman involved, a crucial MacGuffin (an object, device or idea that
serves as a trigger for the plot), and a twist ending. It’s Mamet at his best,
and, certainly, his most Hitchcockian.

9. The Game (1997) & Panic Room (2002)
dir. by David Fincher

I couldn’t decide which David Fincher film to include here,
so I’m offering two as examples. The
Game is essentially the type of man-on-the-run thriller (with a modern twist)
that Hitchcock loved so much, while Panic
Room expertly captures the physical claustrophobia that Hitchcock was
fascinated by. Both are often regarded as “lesser” Fincher films (though not by
me), but, nevertheless, they feel right at home here.

8. Red Lights
(2004)
dir. by Cédric Kahn

Cédric Kahn’s ingenious French thriller, Red Lights, never attracted much of an
audience, but it’s one of the best Hitchcockian films made in the
last decade. While a husband and wife drive through rural France en route to
pick up their children from summer camp, his constant drinking and her
incessant nagging force them to separate. He
assumes his wife simply got frustrated and took the train. But what if
something worse, something horrible, something deadly has happened? What if.

7. Wait Until Dark(1967)
dir. by Terence Young

Hitchcock popularized the concept of the MacGuffin, which,
as I briefly explained above, is an idea, object or device that is used in part
to motivate the plot of the film. The uranium in Notorious, the money is Psycho,
the rope in Rope, the spare key in Dial M for Murder, and on and on. The
heroin-filled doll in Wait Until Dark
is one of my favorite MacGuffins not featured in an actual Hitchcock film. There
is plenty more to love about Wait Until Dark (I think it contains Audrey
Hepburn’s best work) but its use of the MacGuffin concept is dead-on Hitchcockian.

6. Dressed to Kill
(1980)
dir. by Brian De Palma

Brian De Palma is by long and far the most Hitchcockian of
contemporary filmmakers. His cinematic style so closely mirrors Hitch’s, often
by making direct connections with just one of Hitchcock’s films specifically. Dressed to Kill, for example, is De
Palma’s Psycho. And while De Palma’s
film doesn’t nearly rival that Hitch masterpiece, Dressed to Kill is a damn worthy Hitchcockian thriller all the same.

5. The Vanishing(1988)
dir. by George Sluizer

One of my favorite Hitchcock films was one of his last, the
London-set murder mystery, Frenzy. It’s
unlike any film Hitchcock made, and arguably his most violent and brutal. It’s
also a very callous movie, equipped with a distinct pessimism that reminds
me of the fantastic Dutch film, The Vanishing.
Had Hitch made The Vanishing, it
would’ve been him at his most cruel, which is a quality I always enjoyed watching Hitch explore.

4. Charade(1963)
dir. by Stanley Donen

Charade is one of
the few films on this list that was made and released during Hitchcock’s
heyday. I can easily imagine Hitch snagging the rights to the material and
bringing this film (about a widow on the run from three of her husband’s former colleagues) to life. Either way,
Stanley Donen did a fine job, as Charade
is a wildly entertaining film with excellent performances from Audrey Hepburn
and Hitchcock vet Cary Grant.

3. Tell No One(2006)
dir. Guillaume Canet

Without question, Tell No One is my favorite modern Hitchcock film. Since discovering
this film years ago, I’ve done everything in my power to get as many people to
see it as I can. The movie tells the story of a man named Alex, whose wife was
mysteriously murdered eight years ago. On one seemingly random day, Alex
receives an email from his wife, saying she’s still alive. And we’re off and
running. Tell No One is a man-on-the-run/whodunit
hybrid that I absolutely adore. Seriously, this film is brilliant. See it as
soon as possible (it’s currently on Netflix Instant!).

2. Body Double
(1984)
dir. by Brian De Palma

Body Double is the
most Brian De Palmaian film Brian De Palma has made, which is, of course,
another way of saying it is the most Hitchcockian film of De Palma’s career. A
perfect blend of Rear Window and Vertigo, De Palma spends much of Body Double simply observing his
characters observing other people.
Hitch always loved to spy, and Body
Double is a worthy reminder of that.

1. Les Diaboliques(1955)
dir. by Henri-Georges Clouzot

As legend tells it, Alfred Hitchcock had every intention of turning Boileau-Narcejac’s novel “Celle qui n'était plus,” into a film, but he
missed the opportunity when Henri-Georges Clouzot secured the rights to book mere
hours before Hitchcock could. In Clouzot’s Les
Diaboliques, a wife plots to murder her cruel husband with the help of her
husband’s mistress. The film is a staple of suspense cinema, and damn near as fine as
anything Hitchcock ever made. Would Hitchcock have done better with the
material? My guess is the results would’ve been nearly equal, but hell, you
tell me.

42 comments:

I've seen some of these films as I need to see more Hitchcock. What about High Anxiety by Mel Brooks? I know it's a spoof on Hitchcock but if Hitchcock did make a comedy, it would sort of be like that.

Thanks for posting this ... I could not ask for better fodder for my current movie viewing/blogging interests. I've seen a handful of these. Both The Hubby and I love Charade and Wait Until Dark. I just saw The Panic Room, for the first time, last night and was surprised by how much I liked it. You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned the Hitchcockian sense of claustrophobia. (Is "Hitchcockian" a word? If not, damn it, it should be).

I saw Basic Instinct with my mom over 20 years ago, and I don't remember whether I liked it. Only one thing that stuck with me, aside from the infamous (and hilarious) interrogation scene. I commented on how much time Sharon Stone spent nude on screen, and Mom said, "If I had a figure like that, I wouldn't even own clothes." She was awesome. :-)

I really need to watch more Hitchcock to be honest. I don't care much for Basic Instinct (I don't have a problem with the subject matter, I just think it's cheesy and dull) but the rest of the pack that I've seen I do enjoy. Not a huge De Palma fan but the two you have listed here are definitely closer to the upper echelon of his filmography. Gotta love Charade and Wait Until Dark though. Two immensely great flicks, the former of which I think contains one of my absolute favorite Grant performances. Such great films. I'll definitely have to watch Tell No One, it's been in my Netflixs cue forever.

I'm not sure if you could consider this Hitchcock-ian but I would throw in the film Stoker from a little while back. While perhaps not anywhere near as "playful" as a Hitchcock film, I think the tension and the darkness is definitely something I could see Park Chan-Wook lifting from the Master of Suspense.

Basic Instinct is definitely cheesy, but I think it intends to be. I'd say at least 60% of Hitch's films are cheesy as well (and probably only 5% of those intended to be).

Please do check out Tell No One ASAP. It's so damn good; one I can revisit again and again. I love it.

Stoker is essentially Chan-wook's Shadow of a Doubt. He's said he used that film as his main influence, he just added more psychosexual elements to his film. So, yeah, it's totally fair to call Stoker Hitchcockian.

Great list. I love this kind of films. I haven't seen all the films but I will surely do that since I am a big fan of mystery films. I knew Charade would be there. Love that no.1. By the way, what do you think of The Talented Mr. Ripley? In my opinion, it is definitely a hitchcockian film.

Great list! There's a few on here that I definitely want to check out now. Wait Until Dark is fantastic, Audrey is brilliant in it and that jump scare towards the end is probably my favourite from any film.

I recently watched Tom at the Farm and thought numerous times throughout it that Dolan was nailing the Hitchcokian tone perfectly.

The only one on this list that I've actually seen is Charade, which I do remember was a lot of fun. It never occurred to me but now that you mention it that film was a bit Hitchcock-esque in atmosphere.

The one that stood out in my mind (though I'm not sure if it counts) was the Mel Brooks movie High Anxiety. It's a hilarious parody of/homage to Alfred Hitchcock's style, complete with lots of references to his movies.

I haven't seen all films on this list but I am so happy to see quite a few movies on this list.

Wait until Dark or The Nun's Story are the ones I usually direct people to when people come up with 'What's so great about Audrey Hepburn? She was just a pretty face' argument. And I have nothing for those who consider The Game as lesser Fincher, maybe except 'Watch it again. And maybe, this time really WATCH it.'

DIabolique I only so earlier this year and was absolutely brilliant. Definitely deserves the top spot. Great list once again!

SO glad to hear your praise for The Game. It had the slight misfortune of being released between two of Fincher's genre-defining cult sensations, so I understand why some don't like it. I actually think it's one of Fincher's best psychological thrillers, very smart and very layered. Love it.

Awesome list! I have seen all of these films except for Les Diaboliques. It sounds like a very interesting film, and I will try to watch it ASAP. I love the fact that you have Wait Until Dark & Charade on your list. Not only do I need to have a Hitchcock marathon, but an Audrey Hepburn marathon as well!

Even though it is a spoof, I think High Anxiety would be exactly the type of film that Hitchcock would make if he made a comedy.

Oh, this is great. I haven't seen most of these, but you've got me really wanting to dig into this list. Anything that is related to Hitchcock in some way has to be worth a watch. Thanks for the tip on Tell No One -- just added it to my instant queue.

Nice list - you have the best idea for these! I'd have to suggest Stranger by the Lake - great film, and every second review referred to it as "Hitchcockian" (often with some kind of pun on cocks, since, well, the film has a lot of cocks).

Thanks buddy! Stranger by the Lake is a great call, and definitely would've made the top 20 on this list. I think Hitch definitely could've ventured into a story similar to that one. (I LOVED that film, by the way.)

I hated Dressed to Kill the first time I saw it. Actually turned it off then tried again about a year later. While far from my favorite De Palma, it does have a few set pieces that I quite enjoy.

I saw Panic Room again last night and I still consider it one of Fincher's worst but the Game is very good. Gone Girl is probably going to be the most Hitchcockian film of his, Hitchcock would have loved Flynn's novels especially this one - it's all about being trapped.

The second part of Mulholland Dr. comes to mind too - with the murder plot, icy blonde and hostile city.

This is easily among your greatest posts. Seriously, man. I'm pretty sure that Alfred Hitchcock has been among the most influential filmmakers of all time (and there are many who regard him as the most influential). He was the definition of an auteur, in the "Cahiers du cinéma" sense of the word, establishing a style so distinctive that it can be immediately recongnized throughout most of his filmography. Luckily for us cinephiles, his precious cinematic legacy lives on and is celebrated by many filmmakers even after his death, in this day and age. Your whole list of The Hitchcockian films is truly incredible and I couldn't choose any other film than Clouzot's "Les Diaboliques" as my first choice. Every frame of this masterpiece seems to pay a tribute to "The Master of Suspense" and it is said that it even inspired Hitchcock to make "Vertigo". My personal list goes like this:

And the list goes on and on and on, of course, from "Tell No One" and "Wait until dark" to "Source code" and "What lies beneath". Your list fuckin' rocks, that's for sure. I've never a read a better list of Hitchcockian films and I've read a lot of them, trust me.

Damn man, thanks. You always have the nicest things to say! Love your comment and I adore your list. All of the ones on your list that didn't make mine were definitely considered. Stoker was such a great Hitchcockian film. Also love that you've even seen Tell No One. I love that damn film.

Yeah, man, "Stoker" was pure “Hitchcockianness”. Loved it. In regards to "Tell No One", I really star to wander sometimes which acclaimed French films of the last decade I haven't seen. French cinema rules, man, there's no doubt about that. You're not going to find someone who truly knows about cinema and tell you different. The free and creative spirit of French cinema that can produce a film like "Tell No One" feels like a paradox for American audiences. Such a shame. Canet is at his absolute best in "Tell No One" as a director. And his remake on "Les liens du sang" or "Rivals" as you probably know it, last year's "Blood ties" was not that bad either. "Little white lies" remains my second favorite film he directed. And it's like he keeps on searching projects that give him the opportunity to work again and again with François Cluzet. Can't blame him. Such an astonishing actor.

It really IS a paradox to American audiences - so well said there. I love much of Canet's work as well. Blood Ties, while not perfect, had its strong moments, and I too enjoyed Little White Lies a great deal. In fact, I need to rewatch that one soon. Been too long.

Yikes, I haven't seen the top 3 films on the list. Looks great though, agree with the others ones. I absolutely adore Charade and The Vanishing, so glad they are high up on your list. One I think you may have missed (what am I kidding, you've probably have seen it) is Stoker. Actually I think someone else mentioned it in the comments as well. Anyway one of my favorites too. Although this list, is awesome, also so glad Basic Instinct is a honorable mention. I don't know why, but I love that movie (yeah it probably has something to do with THAT shot). So happy you put that in there. A few more of my favorites would be Dressed to Kill, which you obviously also have on here, The Uninvited (the 1944 version, and I think that counts as a Hitchcockian film), does Shutter Island count? (not my favorite Scorsese movie but one that kept me guessing to the end). And Source Code which I really enjoyed. Anyway a few more of my favorites, it would be to hard to order them in any logical way, but those are some of my favorites. Once again great list, love Hitchcock and the Hitchcockian films, which by the way you should do a The Directors Piece on Hitchcock, it would be really awesome to see. Anyway back again great list, and I gotta try to find those top 3 films. Thanks so much and you have the best ideas for movie lists.

Oh I definitely considered Stoker, because that is one of the most obvious Hitchcockian films of recent memory. And a damn good one too. LOVE your praise for Basic Instinct - that movie rocks.

The Uninvited and Shutter Island are solid picks, but I did stay away from any sort of supernatural film (like Source Code) because Hitch didn't really mess with sci-fi, you know? Been working hard on my Directors post on Hitch for the past month. Getting close to being done ;)

Thanks man! I think you'll really dig The Game and The Spanish Prisoner. Two great "wrong man" movies right there. Love all your picks as well. Catch Me If You Can is a really spirited choice. That definitely fits here.

It's funny. I have a controversial opinion on Hitchcock, but I love "Hitchcockian" films (and Rear Window). The Game is awesome, had me guessing at every scene. I feel like Jaws could be considered for this list. That has a few Hitchcockian elements to it. And with God (or, you know, whatever) as my witness, I will buy The Vanishing at Criterion's next sale.